India rubbee fad foe projectiles



J. N. BIRD; v IND RUBBER WAD FOR PROJEGTI Y PmmdNw 1862.

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Specification lforrhinig part of Letters Patent No. dd,@3tl datedlioreinber 4, 1862.

fi'oall whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J. N. Bum; of the city of lrenton, in the county of Mercer and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improtied Wad'for Ordnance as well as Small and to be used in connection with solid elongated shot, solid round shot, round and elongated shell; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the'accompaaging drawings, forming a part of my, specifi cation and to the letters of reference marked thereon, like letters in the several figures indicating the same or analogous parts, and in which drawings-- Figure 1 is a sectional view, showing my improved wed in position in a rifled cannon -in connection with an elongated projectile.

which may be supposed to be either asoiid shot or a shell, audjust ready to be fired ofi, Fig. 2, a like view with the wad and projectile in the act of being fired from the cannon, Fig. 3, a cross section of Fig. 2in the line as :0; Fig. 4:, a View showing the application of myimprovedwad to round shot or shell; and Fig. 5, asectional View of a wad of cylindric for-in, but plane-faced ends.

The object of my invention is the produclieu of a wad for small-arms and ordnance,

which shall be'composed of a homogeneous undivided elastic mass'of matter, not subject to-deterioration from ordinary rough usage in haudlingand transportion, which shall not be moment oi ignition oi the powder, which shall lessen recoil, which shall not stick to or foul c re, but operate to clean rather than clog it, and which shall not cling to: or retard the projectile after it shall have left the muzzle of the gun. a I Asufiicient descriptionof the material composing my improved wad will be to state that it may be made of an indiaarubber compound similarto the car-spring compound; or it may: he made the sa'uieas rag packing, the composition of which 15 well known to manufacturers of rubber-fsream-packing. An excellent wad can be made of one part, by weight, of rubber to two parts, by weight, of the usual scraps out oiwhich rag packing is made, which will greatly cheapen the wad In molding my wad it is fashioned into the form of a section of a cylinder having one of its ends or faces concave, .asatain Figs. 1 and a, the Wed in the figures being shoot in red and indicated by the letter A.

"When used with an elongated shot or shell, as represented in Figs. 1 and 2, the breech or the projectile is creased or corrugated, as in; dicated in said figures, and the trad is inserted in the gun with. its concave face in contact with the powder or the cartridge. I When so used, the plane face h oi the Wad will abut against the points or corrugatiousc oi the 19rd jectile, leaving spaces between the wad and the projectile before the explosion takes place, as represented in Fig. 1. Upon the powder B becoming ignited and converted into gases, as at 0, Fig. 2, the Wed. will become compressed and its diameter increased, so as to pack its periphery d d firmly against the here and into the grooves e of the gun F, thus preventing wind age, while at the same time the plane face of the wad will be forced into the creases or corrugations in the breecn of the projectile E, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, thus causing the projectile to rotate according to the twist oi the rifle-grooves c of the gun. The wadlt, acting as an elastic cushion between the pro -jectile and the pressure o'i the gases when the powder isexploded, allows the shot or projectile to start gradually from its state of rest, and thus by the condensing of the wad afrording a relief to the powerful pressure of thegases at-thc breech of the gun at the moment of-the explosion, as well as easing or relieving I .the gun from violent recoil.

. From the vulcanizing of the material of which the wad is composed it is evident that the wad will resist a powerful heat, and is therefore not liable to fuse and adhere to the interior of the gun in its discharge, as would be the case if the wad were made, for instance, of gut-ta-percha or lead.

When my wad is used in connection wtih round shqt, their-relative position will be as indicated in Fig. I, the ball or projectile H resting in the cavity of the wad with the plane face oi'the wad against the powder or cart-ridge, s thq case may be, If thought advisable} my wail emiroadilybc secured to the projectile in the ordinary wgy of securing balls to wooden wads by strips of tin.

When nsmlin cQnnvclion witl. hollow elongated 'prujuctilvs, iiiy'wml nil'ords this peculiar bullets zi-nd'other likc missiliis. 1'

, Isoinetinivs' bgntemplatecovering tlinfw akl' therefromr r Having thus dqscribet'l my invention, what I with asheet offduckU cloth tlio 'oughly impregnated with rubber. will be cemented to the wad, so that the im regnma duck will come in iunncdiate contact with the intg iolf 9f the gun when fired.

claim as new, and desire to S'CCHI'GILV Imttcis Patent of the UnitcilStafl-s, is-

vulcanized 'indizi-rnbber wml or ordnance and small-arms, applied and olwmting substantially in the nmnncr andi'or 1hr pur- J. x. BIRD. ,Wiinosses: 1 k I 16150. W Zmuuan. .7 f

In such case the cloth 

